


They are Mine.

by FiKate



Category: The Sandman
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-20
Updated: 2009-12-20
Packaged: 2017-10-04 19:12:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/33184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FiKate/pseuds/FiKate
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A look at what might have been and what might be between Bast and Dream in his guises as Morpheus and Daniel. A walk through the Dreaming through the dreams of cats.</p>
            </blockquote>





	They are Mine.

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Whisperslip](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whisperslip/gifts).



Her city was already crumbling when they first walked through the Dreaming together. She found a peace in his darkness and how he would tell her of the dreams of cats and walk her through them. Those were the finest days when she could walk beside him and be again her full, true self as cats chased down humans among them and kittens became lions. She would smile and reach out her hand and the dreamers would see her for a moment and awake with a roar of strength.

After a time he stopped visiting her as much and her kingdom crumbled more around her. Days she would stalk all that remained, standing tall and proud when a cat dreamed of her once more but she could feel them all pulling away and forgetting her. Cats remembered longer than people and would pass stories down through the night, but they still would forget since their lives were too short. He had always been so kind to her though they walked on an edge of desire, many times it seemed as if perhaps he would stay a moment longer but duty, always duty called him away. She grew used to the sight of him slipping into the Dreaming and would watch him disappear until there was nothing of him left but her own thoughts. Though her thoughts were never calm, her world was too small and she did not have the power to make it larger, only her dreamers could do that and they would ever forget the beautiful goddess who watched from the shadows.

She had not spoken to the new Dream though she had felt when he walked by, learning and knowing the Dreaming that is his now. He'd stopped near her but never came to say hello yet, she'd heard that he was shy and that made her wonder if she should rather go seek him out. Perhaps she can help his sadness as she could not help Morpheus', they could never do quite enough for each other. Always the moments never felt quite right to lean that inch closer and cross the line between them. It would have been so simple to lean upon him and feel the dark night that he wraps himself in, but that is a regret that should stay forgotten as her world crumbles ever more.

When he finally came to see her, it was when she wasn't listening and was basking in the sun that a kitten had dreamed of. His steps were hesitant as he approached her she was beautiful in how she knew herself and her space. Though she had grown old as she was forgotten, she was always and ever Bast who could command with a look and held truth and kindness in her eyes,   
"Hello, Bast."

She turned to him and smiled, standing up with her lovely languid grace,  
"I was wondering if you would ever visit me."

"I didn't wish to impose myself upon you."

"Then you could have simply asked and I would have told you if you were or not."

He bows his head since her eyes are terribly sharp, "I was unsure if you would like to walk with me."

"I would enjoy that."

He offers her a hand and she takes it with a smile as he turns them towards a road that for now only he can see.   
Her kingdom fades before them becoming a forest where they are dwarfed by cats who prowl the shadows and she becomes younger and her smile grows as more and more hunters fill the forest. With a roar, a young tabby leaps from the trees and lands on a tiger, they're wrestling and growls fill the air until all that seems to exist are the two creatures. Bast's smile turns into a tooth filled grin as the wrestling turns to the enjoyable heat of lust and she dares to move closer to Dream.   
He doesn't pull away as the forest shifts away from them becoming a savanna that seems to stretch on forever with hints of creatures in the long grasses. A herd of swiftly moving rabbits that turn into antelope dart before them before a tom cat who is missing part of his ear pounces on the last antelope, wrestling it to the ground. The kill is quick and neatly done and Bast nods to the smug cat as they walk past. In an alley in Paris, an old tom cat yowls with victory and in the echoes, it turns into a roar that frightens a lonely student making their way home. This time Dream holds her hand a little tighter and she walks with a surer step.

The hot sun fades as they emerge into a quiet forest where a circle of cats share their stories of lives beyond and lives that are closer. The first tale is of conquering a great beast that plagued the humans who kept house for a small kitten, she scared away his frightening purple eyes with her roars though every night it seemed as if it wouldn't be enough. Finally on the last night when her voice had grown hoarse and tired, the eyes called out,   
"Why do you protect them?"

"They are mine."

The eyes had no answer for that and faded away since they knew they had no true answer. Bast leans down and places her hand upon the kitten's head, it looks up at her before bowing as all the cats of the circle do. Then she leans closer to Dream and this time as they walk, they find themselves in her Egypt with a sun that beats strongly upon them and to a tent which creates its own shade.

She curls up on the cushions and asks, "Will you sit with me?"

"I would, Bast."

"Will you stay for a time?"

"If you wish me to."

"I so wish it."

He smiles and sits beside her and she allows herself to curl by his strange white warmth and this time, she dares to cross that extra inch.


End file.
